High power electronic components such as central processing units and graphics processing units generate a large amount of heat during operation. The heat needs to be dissipated to avoid overheating the component. Conventional cooling solutions include placing a heat sink or heat pipe in contact with a surface of the component, which draws heat away from the electronic component via conduction. The heat is then dissipated by convection, possibly in conjunction with one or more fans that force air over the heat sink or heat pipe.
One particular heat sink technology in recent use implements a heat sink with a stacked fin assembly soldered thereto. The base of the heat sink may or may not include a heat pipe integrated therein. The base of the heat sink may also incorporate a vapor chamber inside the base that efficiently transfers heat between a bottom surface of the base and a top surface of the base, which is in contact with a bottom surface of the stacked fin assembly.
Efficient cooling solutions enable electronic components to operate at higher speeds, thereby making the overall system more efficient. Processors may be operated in conditions that result in higher performance if heat sink efficiency is increased thereby cooling the processor more effectively. However, conventional heat sink designs are limited by the thermal transfer properties of the materials as well as other aspects of the designs. Thus, there is a need for addressing this issue and/or other issues associated with the prior art.